It’s all-American conservative
Holden’s SUV proves you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, says David Linklater.
You might think there are too many acronyms in the car world. I might agree with you. But I’ve had to come up with another in my quest to characterise Holden’s new Equinox SUV. Because it’s a mixture of impressive engineering and some genuinely clever features slightly undermined by something I like to call Middle America Conservative (MAC).
Equinox is a big deal for Holden. It’s the first completely new model launched since Australian manufacturing shut down, although that’s not as big a deal as you think because if you put the outgoing Commodore to one side, Spark, Barina, Astra, Colorado and Trailblazer are all non-Australian. Equinox is just part of a wellestablished club.
It’s a bigger deal because Holden hasn’t had a medium-sized fiveseat SUV in its lineup since 2015, when the Captiva 5 departed. It’s an important market and given that more than 70 per cent of it is private sales, it’s important to have something swish and modern.
That’s where Equinox might stumble at the first hurdle. It’s an all-new model, but looks very traditional inside and out. At a glance it could be a 2007 or even 1997 model.
Part of the explanation is that while it’s now a global vehicle, Equinox is actually the third generation of an American SUV that’s been a big seller for General Motors since 2004. It’s MAC and has to maintain the family look and feel.
Drive our LTZ-V test model and you might get a surprise, then. The 2.0-litre turbo engine is a real powerhouse – nearly 50kW more than a Mazda CX-5 2.5-litre and as much torque as an Aussie Commodore V6. It’s swift and smooth, with a nine-speed automatic transmission that’ll get you to 100km/h in just over seven seconds. It’s actually the same powertrain that we’ll get in next year’s ZB Commodore.
You do pay for that punch. Combined fuel consumption of 8.2 litres per 100km is on the high side for this segment; most rivals are in the sevens and it wasn’t hard to push the on-test figure up to 12 litres by enjoying the full force of the turbo engine.
The Equinox is AWD of course – at least in LTZ specification and above. There’s a 2.0-litre LT with 2WD and all the 1.5-litre models are front-drive-only.
It’s an AWD system with preemptive torque control, so it doesn’t just wait for front-wheel slip, and it does an excellent job of getting all the power to the ground. One of the big tech points according to GM is that you can completely disconnect the system to be 2WD only, as a fuel-saving measure. Not sure why you’d want to do that with what’s essentially an on-demand system anyway on Kiwi roads, especially with all that grunt to contend with. Might make sense if you spend literally all your time on smooth, straight roads: MAC driving.
It’s easy to be cynical about Holden’s much-talked-about engineering involvement in Equinox, but based on our weeklong test the Aussie company has worked a little magic. The main changes have been around tailoring the car for the exclusive use of summer tyres, but also a bit of firming and sharpening. There’s been recalibration and revision of both steering and suspension (including new hardware) and it’s worked a treat: our Equinox feels taut and controlled.
And comfortable... mostly. The wide, flat front seats are a bit MAC, but you get heating and ventilation (a first for Holden) and overall this is a refined and roomy SUV.
Some of that refinement comes from clever active noisecancellation technology (standard across the range): four microphones in the headlining pick up nasty noises and a frequency delivered through the speakers cancels it out. It’s not new technology, but it is pretty clever stuff for a mainstream family SUV.
So is the haptic seat feedback. If you’re tired of all the dinging and beeping that comes with driverassistance systems, Equinox allows you to mute those in favour of vibrations through the seat. So if you’re about to back into a wall, you’ll get a strange buzzing sensation towards the rear of the seat-squab. If you stray across towards the left-side motorway lane, the haptic alert occurs on that side of the seat.
There’s plenty to keep it busy: the so-called HoldenEye system includes forward collision alert (you also get a head-up warning), automatic autonomous braking, lane departure warning and lanekeep assist, blind-spot alert and
rear cross-traffic alert.
But Equinox doesn’t have adaptive cruise control, even on this flagship LTZ-V, a massive oversight in these days when even a Suzuki Swift can play follow-theleader on the motorway.
For that reason, it’s not essential to opt for the LTZ-V even if you’re hell-bent on getting maximum tech for your money. Go one level down to the LTZ and you still get an eight-inch screen, remote start, automatic parking, wireless phone charging (although the nook for your mobile is far too small), Bose audio and hands-free tailgate.
For your $1000 V-series upgrade you get a two-panel panoramic sunroof, power passenger seat, heated steering wheel and that front-seat ventilation. It’s a good value package, but also take-it-or-leave-it stuff. And the LTZ still gets the largest 19-inch wheels, which are the way to go because they make the car look just a bit less... dorky.
Equinox is probably a vehicle you’d buy for entirely rational reasons. It’s one of the larger vehicles in its segment, with generous passenger space and considerable load capacity (including one-touch folding for the rear chairs) and it comes with three years’ free servicing.
Even in take-no-prisoners LTZ-V form it’s cheaper than a Mazda CX-5 Limited or Toyota RAV4 LTD: good to drive like the former and completely inoffensive like the latter. For the MAC reasons already discussed.